


After-hours Negotiations

by Felle



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Asami is working through some abandonment issues okay, Canon Compliant, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 06:56:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11572749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felle/pseuds/Felle
Summary: Asami is working herself to the bone in the aftermath of the Earth Kingdom’s collapse, including forgoing sleep in exchange for late-night meetings with the new, equally exhausted interim president.





	After-hours Negotiations

On every conscious level, Asami knew that neither she nor any of her friends were at fault their current situation, and that the people who actually _were_ at fault were either dead or locked up so tightly that their bones would rot long before their chains. She knew the chaos the Earth Kingdom had fallen into in the past six months wasn’t their fault, and that all they could do was try and set it back on course as quickly as possible.

None of that changed how she _felt_ , of course. She felt responsible for her company passing over chances to refit Earth Kingdom infrastructure in favor of more profitable ventures closer to home in years past, she felt responsible for not doing enough about the grimmer and grimmer news coming in from the border states every day, and she felt responsible for her friends scattering to the wind and the world losing its Avatar for who knew how long. The guilt, however misplaced, gnawed at her every day, and throwing herself into her work only did so much. She hoped her last meeting of the day would do something to assuage it for a while.

That was why, well after her office had closed and they’d needed to relocate to a conference room in the Four Elements, she was still very much in work mode as she looked over the purchase order from the Earth Kingdom’s new leader. One _Ikeda_ -class airship wasn’t cheap, let alone ten, and there wasn’t much in the way of liquid assets on her end of the deal. When more territories were stabilized—not _if_ , Asami noticed on the papers, but _when_ —enough to resume normal operations, land and resources for factories and branch offices would be theirs at a very generous rate.

“What investments we can draw on in the Fire Nation will have to go to the immediate needs,” the president said from Asami’s left. “Supply lines, transport infrastructure. Most of the tracks laid in the first rail initiative decades ago are falling apart, and soldiers can’t do their jobs if I can’t get them to where they need to be.”

“Then these ships should be outfitted for heavy transport, Madame President?” Asami asked as she flipped through the reports she had brought with her.

“For the moment. Most of the airships from Zaofu are tied up in relocating refugees. Once the rail network is operational, I intend to transition some of them to command and control units for the capital. Ba Sing Se’s layout isn’t suited to easy movement,” she said with a sigh. “And please—you can call me Kuvira.”

Asami let the papers fall flat and followed the low contralto to its source at the head of the conference table they had taken. Kuvira had apparently come right from Ba Sing Se, and Asami had no problem believing it: there were cuts across her left cheek and ear that had yet to heal, her dark green suit was still rumpled in places from being pulled out of storage in a hurry, and the shadows under her eyes betrayed a severe lack of sleep. Asami could sympathize on that score, at least. When she looked away from those things, though, she remembered why she had insisted on focusing so intently on the reports. Kuvira was lean, very slightly shorter than her, and nothing but energy in search of an outlet, like something coiled and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Her eyes were the typical earthbender green, set among features that Asami was quick to describe as handsome. One long finger tapped rhythmically against her temple as she looked up from the papers at Asami. She didn’t smile, not really, but that didn’t detract in the slightest. There was a blend of self-assurance and deep purpose seared into her voice, her movement, even her gaze that was so piercing Asami had to look away after a moment.

“Kuvira, then. I’ll have to take this to the board, but I don’t anticipate any resistance from them, considering the circumstances. How…how is it there?” Asami asked. Kuvira’s careful neutrality melted into a frown as she leaned back in her chair. “My friends managed to get an airship out the day it happened, they said it was grim.”

“It’s worse now.” Kuvira stood and went to the row of windows that overlooked the western part of Republic City and traced a line to the edge of the borough. “Imagine all of this burning, night and day. Everything to the left is already ash, everything to the right is barely standing. We had to force hundreds of people out of their homes so we could collapse them for firebreaks. Even then there wasn’t much left to salvage. The Middle and Upper Rings…I’m sure you can imagine what happens when hungry people think others are hiding food.”

Asami shuddered. “It sounds like you needed this break,” she said, and Kuvira stepped away from the window.

“I’ll trust you not to tell anyone that.”

There was something resembling a smile on her face as she came back to the table, small and conspiratorial. “I didn’t _need_ President Raiko and Fire Lord Izumi’s permission to do what I was already doing, but I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to sleep through the night without something exploding. This is the closest thing I’ve had to a day off in six months, even if I had to spend it playing politics.”

She floated the small Earth Kingdom pin from the lapel of her jacket, the one Raiko had given her that morning, and looked it over for a moment before snatching it from the air and stuffing it into her pocket. “You’re a lot more intense than any other politician I know,” Asami said. “It’s refreshing.”

“I’m a soldier, not a politician. But thank you.” Kuvira sank back into her seat and pushed the papers away. “All that ceremony and formality took up far too much of my time. Time I could have spent more productively rather than dragging you out on business at night.”

“It’s no trouble,” Asami said, even as the heaviness in her eyelids seemed to renew itself. She sipped at her tea and grimaced when she realized it had gone cold. “I haven’t been sleeping much lately, either. My secretary said he was going to order a bed for my office, but we’ve all been putting in extra hours lately to help out with the Earth Kingdom.”

“I appreciate that, Miss Sato.”

“Asami is fine.”

Their eyes met for a moment, and Asami _did_ see a smile then, the corners of her mouth turning up ever so slightly, a secret thing that a soldier and a leader and a president wasn’t allowed outside of her time behind closed doors. “Asami,” Kuvira said, testing her name, tasting it. It rolled slowly from her tongue, and Asami’s throat suddenly felt dry. “The mecha-tank documentation, did the board let you bring that?”

She nodded and pulled another stack of papers from her briefcase. “If you think it can do some good, then please feel free to take it back to your engineering team.”

Kuvira hummed in acknowledgment and went about poring over the documents, providing a brief respite from her intense gaze. Asami rested her head in her hand and watched her read, a mundane little thing that seemed to take on a new depth once it was infused with the same focus that Kuvira seemed to put into whatever she did. She nibbled on her lower lip as she flipped through the pages, and Asami’s thoughts took a somewhat less businesslike turn. Lack of sleep, she told herself. She closed her eyes for a moment, just a moment.

⁂

When she woke up, it was very certainly not in any conference room.

For one thing, she was on her side, nestled into a couch with a soft down pillow under her cheek. For another, she’d never heard soft, brassy jazz in any of her meetings. She yawned and stretched, arching her back and working the soreness out of her back and hip. If it was a dream, then it was a very authentic one. She might have preferred a bed and some company, but it was better than her usual fare as far as dreams went.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

Asami jerked back into coherence, grasping at the back of the couch and sitting up as she tried to trace the voice. It was only a bit off to the side, as it turned out, and a long breath escaped her when she took in the sight. Kuvira was sitting at her a small round table and looking at some of the papers Asami had brought, having done away with her suit jacket and leaving the clear image of her suspenders nestled snugly on her shoulders. Her bright white shirt had its sleeves rolled up just past her elbows, leaving her scarred forearms on prominent display. Her hair was tucked into a simple bun, certainly not the kind of thing the press would let lie if they saw it. Asami gripped harder at the couch and tried to move her thoughts back to safer waters. “Where, uh…”

“My suite was down the hall from the conference room,” Kuvira said as she set the papers down and nodded toward the door. “I hope you don’t mind, it seemed rude to leave you sleeping there.”

Asami swore under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. A deal that could open up untold markets, and she’d passed out right in the middle and left the president of the Earth Kingdom to carry her off. She could have screamed. “How long was I asleep?” she asked, fearing the answer.

“Just an hour or so. I nudged you a bit, but you were out.”

“Probably the most sleep I’ve gotten in three days,” Asami said as she got to her feet. Kuvira stood too, leaning back against the table. One sharp eyebrow arched up, a silent question she felt compelled to answer. “Just had a lot on my mind lately. But I’m sure you have plenty of things to worry about already.”

She nodded slowly, and Asami didn’t fail to notice the way Kuvira’s gaze traveled in a careful circuit of her body. Kuvira hesitated, then took a long breath that escaped over her lips as Asami watched them so closely. “I can call you a cab, if you’d like. Or—” she waved one hand over her hotel room— “it’s a big suite.”

The couch was comfortable, Asami couldn’t deny that, though if she was being honest with herself that would be missing the mark a bit. Instead she settled for taking a few steps toward the door—and Kuvira. Despite her apparently relaxed stance, leaning back on the table and holding the sides, she still retained all of her tightly coiled, barely restrained energy, watching with interest but not pressure.

After another three steps, Asami gave up the pretense of heading for the door and slowed to a stop in front of her. She looked down at Kuvira’s arms. “Are those…recent?”

Kuvira balanced herself and brought her hands up, looking at the marked skin. With a closer view, Asami saw there were cuts going every which way, deep in her skin. She put a finger to a long one running along the crook of her right elbow and followed it up toward her shoulder. “This is from an old surgery, the rest are from the last six months. Do they bother you?” Kuvira asked, and hooked one finger into her right sleeve to pull it back down.

“No! No, it’s fine.” Asami grabbed her hand without very much thought at all and drew it closer. Kuvira’s lips parted slightly, but she said nothing as Asami ran her thumb over the palm. Her hand wasn’t as rough as Asami might have thought, almost soft between the odd callus. Warm, too, despite the winter outside. “They’re proof that you’re definitely not a politician.”

“I think I can live with them, then,” Kuvira said with another small smile, one that bared the slightest bit of teeth at the edge of her mouth. She looked pointedly downward, where their hands were still clasped together, and then back up to match Asami’s gaze, though not without lingering on her lips. With a slow and steady confidence, Kuvira turned her hand and pressed their palms together so that their fingers intertwined. Asami watched every tiny movement of her wrist and fingers, so very taken with each delicate yet sure motion. There was a light tug through her arm and she followed it without thinking, stepping forward until there was really no space at all between them, where the steady rise and fall of Kuvira’s chest was plainly visible through her shirt. “Will you be needing that cab, Asami?”

A jolt ran up her spine at hearing her name roll so languorously across that voice, and she guided Kuvira’s free hand to her waist. Her grip was firm, and Asami leaned into her touch, secure and comforting. Two fingers ran over her waistband, and heat twinged between her legs. “I don’t think I will, Kuvira.”

Her lips crushed against Asami’s with six months of held-down energy, pulling Asami into her gravity without resistance. She melted against the fervor, six months of her own exhaustion fading against the offer of temporary relief, and whimpered when she felt Kuvira’s hand hike her leg up. Asami fought to keep herself balanced as she eased their hands apart and pulled Kuvira as close as could be. She was every bit the soldier that she claimed, and no matter where Asami’s hands roamed on her back they only felt hard, solid muscle through her shirt.

When they had to break apart for air, Asami refused to go far, lingering so that their noses brushed against each other. Kuvira was close enough that she appeared out of focus, but she was _there_ , so undeniably there and commanding in her presence that there was nothing to do but be drawn in, and so Asami all too willingly gave herself over. “Anything you want,” Asami whispered against Kuvira’s ear, only to receive an answering shudder. The low twinge between her legs became an insistent, demanding ache. “Just don’t send me away. Not yet. Give me one night before we have to go back to everything else.”

Kuvira kissed her once more, roughly and briefly, before she took Asami’s hand and led her further into the suite. Head spinning, heart pounding, legs threatening to give out, Asami followed. She could follow Kuvira anywhere, she thought, if only she was asked.

The tile and marble of the bathroom wasn’t what she expected to see in the room Kuvira led her to, but it became clear what she wanted when she stopped the tub and opened the taps. “We haven’t had anything but cold showers ever since we left Zaofu, I have to use this once before I go back,” Kuvira said as she stepped back and let the water flow. She turned and circled a button on Asami’s jacket with her thumb. “May I?”

“I think I insist…”

Each button came loose in turn, and Kuvira bit her lip when she slid Asami’s jacket from her shoulders. It fell to the floor, and Asami gasped when she finally felt Kuvira’s hands at her waist, tugging upward from the bottom of her sweater. The room began to warm, mirrors misting over, and Asami took a long breath as she brought her arms up so Kuvira could pull her sweater off. It too went discarded, and Kuvira seemed stunned. She simply drank in the sight of Asami for a moment, an unqualified and flattering lust sparking in her eyes, before her hands slipped behind Asami’s back and deftly unclasped her bra. Most of her clothes were piled around her, and Kuvira took her time in sliding her hands back, trailing over Asami’s sides and teasing out every dip and curve she could find.

Kuvira’s lips brushed over hers once more, and the metal taps on the bath shut tight with an absent flick of her wrist. The room was heavy with steam by then, and Kuvira’s hands glided smoothly downward as she sank to her knees and worked two fingers under Asami’s skirt. She looked up, one eyebrow cocked over her hard, piercing green eyes, and Asami fumbled to reach back and pull the zipper down. Kuvira tugged once and the fabric gave way, sliding down to let Asami step out of it and kick it aside. Her stockings and panties went as well, until there was nothing more for Kuvira to do but kiss slowly across her hips, her thighs, the trimmed patch of black hair between her legs. Asami chewed on her tongue as she watched Kuvira explore, treating every inch of her body with such reverence that the water would be stone-cold before she finished. “Your turn,” she said, and squeezed Kuvira’s shoulder as she stood up.

“You’re sure the scars don’t bother you?”

There were suddenly traces of doubt in her voice, doubt the world wouldn’t let her have, little cracks in the façade she seemed to work so hard to seal. The show of vulnerability was a small, intimate thing, and Asami couldn’t help trying to put her at ease. She took Kuvira’s hand and kissed her forearm, at a point where several of her scars intersected. “I like them,” Asami admitted as she led Kuvira over to the bath. “They mean you survived. They mean you’re still here.”

Asami sat carefully at the edge of the tub and reached back with one hand to test the water. It was pleasantly warm, and she swirled her fingers across the surface as she crossed her legs and watched with a smile. Kuvira shivered in front of her before she slid the suspenders off her shoulders and let them fall free to focus on her shirt.

Each small button slipped free at an unhurried pace, and Asami licked her lips when she caught a glimpse of white bra and hard muscle underneath. There was a fraction of hesitation before she pulled her arms through the sleeves, and Asami could see why when she tossed it aside. Her torso was little better than her forearms, crisscrossed with deep lines in several places. Rather than let her stew in her doubt, Asami reached forward and pulled her closer. “I want to see,” she said, and eased herself over the edge of the bath so she could sink into the water, up to her waist. “Please.”

Asami tied her hair up as Kuvira finished undressing, and sucked in a breath when the last of her clothes fell away. She might as well have been carved from marble, so sharp were each of the small ridges on her body…Asami grinned and beckoned her over. An endearingly relieved expression spread over her face as she climbed into the bath, and she twisted her body when Asami pulled her closer, nestling in between Asami’s legs so she could be hugged from behind. Kuvira melted against her, turning just enough to let Asami kiss her. The water was smoothing some of her rough edges, and she met Asami’s lips softly, tasting and exploring rather than claiming.

They lingered like that for a time, relishing in the respite from the world outside, until Asami let one hand drift down through the water, along the middle of Kuvira’s chest. When she moaned, it was with her whole body, trembling as she pushed back against the hand skirting along her stomach. Asami dipped down slightly to kiss at Kuvira’s exposed neck as she greedily scouted every inch of hard tone laid bare for her. Some of the scars were raised on her skin, but Asami passed over them like everything else.

Kuvira choked back a moan when Asami’s hand flitted between her legs, over her stiff, swollen clit, one foot kicking out into the water. Asami’s fingers swirled in a slow circle as she nipped at the soft skin of Kuvira’s throat, seeing what reactions she could tease out of the stolid, stoic woman who was quickly melting under her touch.

All that coiled energy, wound tight and primed to pounce, came undone so easily under her careful ministrations. Kuvira bit down on her first two fingers to keep from whimpering as Asami worked, quickening to make her shiver and slowing to make her push her hips forward with needful insistence. By the fourth time Asami had nearly sent her over the edge, her breaths were shallow and uneven, more panting gasps than anything. “Don’t be a tease…”

“Then let go,” Asami whispered, and picked up her pace again. “Let me hear you. Let me know you’re here.”

Reluctantly, Kuvira allowed one whimper, then another when Asami brought the tips of her fingers directly over Kuvira’s clit. Her legs shook, and some of the gold-leafed metal in the room began to warp. Asami bit lightly into the crook of her neck, felt the rumbling in her chest, the way her body twisted and jerked as all that energy came to a head under unsustainable pressure.

Her back arched, her hips snapped, and a cry tore from Kuvira’s throat as her climax wracked her. Asami wrapped her free hand around Kuvira’s waist and held her as she rode it out, each jolt and gasp nudging her a little further into the water until she was up to her chin. She coughed and sputtered when a little water went into her mouth, but Asami hiked her up and kept her close. “It’s okay, I’ve got you,” she said, kissing up and down Kuvira’s cheek. “I’m here for you.”

She had a few aftershocks to ride out, twitching when Asami playfully tapped along the insides of her thighs, but then Kuvira relaxed against her, taking long breaths as she came back down. “Is it…would it be silly to thank you?” she asked as she let one of her hands settle on Asami’s leg.

Kuvira sighed happily when Asami squeezed her tighter. “It’s always nice to know your work is appreciated.”

“Then thank you, I needed that.”

Asami bemoaned the sudden loss of pressure when Kuvira shifted away and stood up to get out of the bath, but the view more than made up for it. Rivulets of water still clung to her powerful back and shoulders, running down to the small of her back and the swell of her hips…Asami watched her pad over to the vanity, then swore under her breath as she pulled on a bathrobe and brought another over to her. “Here. Let me show you how much I appreciate it.”

The room was beginning to cool as she stepped out of the water and slipped on the thick robe, and the rest of the suite was bracing as Kuvira led her to a bedroom that looked out over the southern end of the city and the harbor beyond. Of course, there was a rather more compelling view right in front of her. Kuvira did away with their robes and pulled her down onto the massive bed with her, sinking side by side into the silk sheets as she hiked Asami’s leg up over hers and dove into her again.

Whatever the hot water had tempered was back with a vengeance, and Asami had no mind to complain as Kuvira claimed her, biting at her lower lip, grasping everywhere between her thigh and her waist, and slowly rolling her onto her back all the while. The twinge that had become an ache worsened to a heavy, needful throb between her legs, and every brush of Kuvira’s fingers that drew closer over her leg eked out a desperate, mewling cry. Finally she ran one hand up into Kuvira’s hair to try and nudge her further down the bed, but the pace Kuvira took made it very clear that she was back in charge.

Slowly, so slowly that Asami had to fight not to take matters into her own hands, Kuvira eased herself down, nipping and suckling at her throat, her collarbone, the swells of her breasts. Every fresh tease of her teeth and her tongue made Asami arch her back just a tiny bit more, pressing up to Kuvira’s mouth with desperate, lust-addled urgency. Her lips closed around one stiff brown nipple, one hand pinching at the other, and Asami threw her head back as Kuvira’s teeth flashed against the sensitive skin. She let a pleading whimper spur Kuvira on while her tongue flitted down, teasing.

When she finally did move on, Asami twisting underneath her and all but begging her to go lower, it was with several kisses across her breasts that trailed down along her stomach, the little puff that no amount of exercise could seem to get rid of, and the crests of her hips while her legs obligingly parted under Kuvira’s hands. Asami could feel the slickness along the insides of her thighs, the comforting heat coming off one of Kuvira’s hands as it wrapped around her leg, strong and secure. She matched the smirk Kuvira gave her as she kissed through the little patch of hair between Asami’s legs, but it quickly deteriorated into a gasp as Kuvira planted one more kiss on her aching clit and fire shot up through her.

“F-fuck, Kuvira…”

Any more vanished in her throat when two fingers skirted along the edges of her sex, tauntingly light but very much asserting their presence. Kuvira’s tongue lashed in wide, sweeping strokes across her clit, and Asami clutched at the bedsheets as the wonderful, burning pressure mounted in her core.

Her breath caught in her throat when Kuvira’s fingers pressed gently at her sex, finally escaping as a gasp when they eased in without resistance and curled upward. Every muscle in Asami’s body went tense for an instant, wrapped so tightly in the pleasure she thought she might snap, but it only passed as a heavy shudder while Kuvira went on. The rhythm she worked into was careful, exacting, a dance between the slow rocking motion of her fingers and the swirl of her tongue. She was making up for the earlier teasing, expertly ramping her up and then letting her fall off again. Asami didn’t care how it looked, she cried, tears spilling down the sides of her face as she rocked her hips in counter. “Please,” she begged, her voice rasping in between the whimpers being teased out of her, “please don’t stop, don’t—!”

Kuvira’s tongue flicked at the same time her fingers curled, and it was too much. Her hips canted when the first wave of relief struck her, tremors tearing through her body as the arch in her back gave way. She dimly saw Kuvira’s head dip down slightly, felt the slight tinge of emptiness when her fingers withdrew, moaned when her tongue took their place.

Asami’s ragged breathing hitched through her aftershocks, still making her legs quiver when Kuvira eased up next to her on the bed. Her lips and chin were slick and shining in the dim light from the other room. Asami had never much minded her own arousal, but mingled with Kuvira’s taste there was a thin, almost sweet dimension to it. Kuvira pressed against her, brushing some hair from Asami’s face as they broke for a breath. “I hope you don’t mind me falling asleep on you twice in one night,” she said. Kuvira smiled, really smiled, and pulled over a pillow that she tucked under Asami’s head.

“At least I don’t have to carry you this time.”

Kuvira reached to the edge of the bed to grab the sheets, let it settle over both of them, and pulled Asami next to her. The rise and fall of her chest against Asami’s back and the protective squeeze of her arms were soothing, a relief from lonesome night after lonesome night, and she barely noticed her eyelids growing heavier.

⁂

She awoke to the sound of rain pattering down the window and the smells of breakfast.

Asami yawned and stretched under the sheets before the evening came flooding back to her. The meeting, passing out, everything afterward…she smoothed her hair and propped herself up on one elbow to look around. A deep red robe sat folded on the nightstand, and she pulled it on as quickly as she could to shut out the morning cold. The room was empty, apart from her. She sighed and shuffled to the edge of the bed.

Once she’d rubbed the sleep from her eyes, Asami stepped into the main room and raised an eyebrow. Kuvira was there at the table, back in her pressed pants and whiter-than-white shirt, twirling a spoon in a cup of tea with her metalbending as she read the morning paper. Without looking up, she straightened one leg under the table and pushed out the table’s other chair. “Good morning,” Asami said as she crossed the room and took the offered seat, where there was a place set for her with taro dumplings, a few baozi, and a cup of jasmine tea.

“Good morning.” Kuvira set the paper down and motioned to the plate. “I wasn’t sure what you like, I hope the concierge’s recommendation is all right.”

“Just fine, thank you.”

They ate quietly, stealing glances across the table and grinning when they were caught. Eventually Kuvira slid the paper across the table, and Asami had to bite back a laugh when she saw a picture of them on the front page, leaving the Future Industries office the night before. “What is it they wrote here? ‘Heading out for after-hours negotiations’?”

“They’re not entirely wrong,” Kuvira said as Asami slid the paper back to her.

“I can only imagine what they’d write if they saw us coming out of here together.”

Kuvira chuckled under her breath and finished her tea while Asami ran one finger around the rim of her own cup. “I, ah…I thought you might have gone back to Ba Sing Se already,” Asami said. “When I woke up alone, that is.”

“The airship can’t take off in this freezing rain.” She nodded toward the window, streaked with water and almost frosting up at the corners. “And it seemed rude to leave without saying goodbye.”

Asami felt Kuvira’s gaze on her, still piercing, still hungry. She sipped at her tea, trying and failing to hide her smile.


End file.
